A group of 53 Highlanders will cross the stage on Friday evening and take the first step into the rest of their lives.
Cloudland High School will hold their graduation ceremony on Friday at 7 p.m. in the Sonny Smith Gymnasium at the school.
The Class of 2016 features a total of six Valedictorians — all of whom are finishing their high school careers with a perfect 4.0 grade point average. The Valedictorians are Josie Carnett, Desirae Clark, Clay Kennedy, Rebecca Padgett, Leann Presnell and Rachel Putman.
“They were high achievers, both in the classroom and in athletics,” CHS Principal Lisa Benfield said.
Instead of bringing in an outside keynote speaker, Benfield said the ceremony will focus on the students, with the Valedictorians speaking to their classmates. “They are all going to give a short speech,” Benfield said.
Student achievements will be celebrated during the commencement ceremony.
“The Top 10 percent of the graduating class will be recognized,” Benfield said. “Scholarship recipients will also be honored during the ceremony.”
While this graduating class of Highlanders will be leaving their high school career behind, many of them are going to continue their education and career training by either attending college, a technical or trade school or by joining the United States military.
“We had two sign with the military just recently,” Benfield said.
Earlier this month, senior Rebecca Padgett signed on to join the U.S. Navy where she will be training to join the U.S. Navy Police. Davi Heaton signed on with the U.S. Air Force and will be training to join the U.S. Air Force Security Forces.
In addition to the academic and athletic excellence displayed by the Class of 2016, Benfield said there are many students with other talents as well.
“We have a lot of musical talent in this senior class, not just with the band but other students who are musically gifted as well,” she said.
Overall, the graduating Highlanders can be described as “hard-working” in addition to successful, Benfield said.
“It has been a pleasure to have them walking the halls at CHS and we are going to miss them,” she said.